1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates generally to an assembly for mixing and dispensing one component of a tissue sealant based on human or animal proteins and, more particularly, to an assembly for forming a protein solution to be applied to tissues or organs together with another protein solution to form a fibrin sealant for sealing wounds, stopping bleeding and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
A fibrin sealant is a biological adhesive formed by mixing two protein components, namely, fibrinogen and thrombin. Each protein component is derived from human plasma and is subjected to virus elimination procedures. The components are typically individually dehydrated and stored in separate vials as sterile freeze-dried powders.
It is known that purified fibrinogen and thrombin, together with a variety of known adjuvants, can be combined in vitro to produce a polymer having great potential benefit, both as a hemostatic agent and as a tissue adhesive. Because of the rapid polymerization upon intimate interaction of fibrinogen and thrombin, it is important to maintain these two blood proteins separate until applied at the application site. These protein solutions are generally mixed and dispensed by devices such as a dual syringe apparatus.
One dual syringe apparatus for applying a fibrinogen-based tissue adhesive is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,049 to Redl et al. Redl et al. disclose a mechanism in which two standardized one-way syringes are held in a support having a common actuating means. The dispensing end of each syringe is inserted into a collection manifold where the two components are mixed. The components are then dispensed through a common needle capable of covering a limited area of the application site.
Typical devices for mixing and dispensing solutions of fibrinogen and thrombin require the addition of these proteins in powdered form to the body of the syringe. This makes the proteins susceptible to contamination by impurities which may enter the syringe body. Further still, the use of the syringe body to mix the proteins with water to create the protein solutions can cause the solutions to leak out from either the dispensing end of each syringe or the proximal end of the syringe body.
A dual syringe apparatus for the application of fibrinogen and thrombin solutions to an application site generally contains several parts, such as a syringe plunger, a xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d manifold connector, a dispensing needle, a syringe holder, syringe needles, and conduits for transporting the solutions to the dispensing needle. Therefore, fibrin sealant applicators, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,049 to Redl et al. discussed above, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,368 to Miller et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,942 to Wolf et al. are difficult to reuse. The replenishment of the protein components typically requires removing a clip which couples the syringe plunger, removing the syringe plunger, detaching the syringes from the xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d connector, removing the syringes from the holder, inserting new syringes, affixing the syringes to the xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d connector, adding fibrinogen to one syringe and thrombin to another syringe, adding sterile water to each syringe, replacing the syringe plunger, replacing the plunger clip, and mixing the solutions. In an application where time may be of the essence, such a lengthy replenishing process is impractical and cumbersome.
A fibrin mixture and dispenser assembly is provided for mixing a first protein component with sterile water to form a first protein solution and for dispensing the first protein solution. The first protein solution forms a biological adhesive when intermixed with a second protein solution on an application site. The second protein solution is preferably mixed and dispensed by a similar fibrin mixture and dispenser assembly. The two fibrin mixture and dispenser assemblies can be housed within a single housing.
The assembly includes a piercer and a first tubular extension having grooves for providing fluid communication between a reservoir and a mixing chamber or a vial. The reservoir is also in fluid communication with a dispensing needle through a second tubular extension. The reservoir is configured to contain water which is introduced to the mixing chamber. The mixing chamber is configured to contain the first protein component. The water mixes with the first protein component within the mixing chamber to form the first protein solution. The solution is transferred to the reservoir and is dispensed via the dispensing needle. The first and second components are preferably fibrinogen and thrombin which intermix either prior to or on the application site to form a fibrin sealant.